Elementary

We at ISH believe that each child is a unique being; an individual who brings to the class their own knowledge, experiences, interests and questions. We also believe that children come from different backgrounds, have varying needs and styles of learning and should be treated fairly regardless of race, gender or ability. Children need to feel safe, loved, respected and secure in order to learn. We strongly believe that children use play and other creative and imaginative activities to learn and make sense of the world.

We aim to draw upon these when devising a developmentally appropriate curriculum and endeavor to meet these desirable learning outcomes of the curriculum with a partnership relationship with both colleagues and parents.

Early Childhood (Reception-KG 2)

Our early childhood curriculum is designed to address six areas of development. Personal, Social and Emotional Development; Communication, Language and Literacy; Mathematical Development; Understanding and Knowledge of the world; Physical (Fine and Gross Motor) Development and Creative Development. These six areas form a foundation for the subject areas in Grades 1 and above. Through these areas we wish to create an atmosphere of emotional warmth, and to be sensitive to the individuality of each child. We put children in control of their own learning by allowing them to make choices through structured activities. Although we plan for whole group instruction as it is important for community building, the early childhood teacher knows that young children learn best in small groups with lots of one-on-one support. We fully encourage and prepare children for life by placing learning in a meaningful context.

Areas of Learning in Early childhood

The ISH Elementary School provides a caring atmosphere where students are encouraged to collaborate effectively, reason critically, think creatively and communicate efficiently.

The ISH elementary curriculum is a combination of documents developed internally and accredited by The Council of International Schools (CIS) and The New England Association of Schools (NEASC).

Grades 1-5 use the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA). Our Inquiry-based curriculum for science and humanities uses the Common Ground Collaborative (CGC) framework. It aims to develop deep conceptual understanding, high levels of competency and a positive, moral character.

To accommodate wide ranging learning styles and ensure that every child is challenged, our instruction is differentiated, with a focus on implementing the guided inquiry cycle approach to teaching. We believe that in doing so, we are also able to meet the needs of the ISH community which includes individuals from diverse backgrounds and cultures. Cross-curricular links are established to inculcate a comprehensive and cohesive approach to learning. The curriculum at ISH is structured to balance scholastic achievement with social, emotional and personal development.

We encourage each student to strive for academic excellence and also aspire towards becoming socially aware and responsible in order to be well equipped to excel in a global society.

Period assessment, using a range of methods, provides valuable feedback for adjustments in instruction. Furthermore, Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) testing, is taken by all students to give a snapshot of the work covered during the year and the levels reached, in comparison to other schools across the globe.